Gilmore tells colleagues to lip-it in lead up to budget

Eamon Gilmore has cautioned his party about spreading rumours about the budget as members openly talked of Labour dissent and frustration.

Mr Gilmore this week also faced a boycott by three senators who refused to attend the party’s pre-Dáil think-in because it was held in a luxurious hotel.

But the Tánaiste said that he welcomed free speech and that the mood of the two-day seminar had been “optimistic”.